Mexican Stuffed Peppers Recipe

These Mexican Stuffed Peppers are a cheesy, easy dinner of ground beef and rice stuffed into sweet bell peppers, baked, and topped with melted cheese. This is just the kind of family-friendly meal busy home cooks can get on the table without much fuss.

Hamburger recipes are a rarity on this blog.  Other than ground turkey a few times a year, I don't eat ground meats. Dave on the other hand seems to be of the opinion that hamburger itself should be an entire food group.  He loves the stuff.  One day, I saw him lovingly arranging colorful and carefully cored yellow and orange bell peppers in a casserole dish.  This caught my attention, because typically his idea of cooking is the one pot meal, unceremoniously scooped into a big bowl.

I snapped a shot of the stuffed peppers with my phone, when they came out of the oven.  He seemed quite pleased with his creation as he happily chomped a couple of the rice and meat stuffed sweet peppers down, so I asked him for the recipe to share with my more carnivorous readers. It's pretty easy and doesn't have any of the weird ingredients, I'm so fond of. Top them with some salsa, seasoned sour cream or a simple splash of hot sauce if you like. Below, you'll find the full ingredient list, step-by-step instructions, serving ideas, and a few more easy comfort food recipes to try next.

Cheesy Southwest Stuffed Peppers Recipe (Hamburger)

Variations on the Recipe

Here are a few simple additions or swaps to put your own flair on these Mexican stuffed bell peppers.

• Add beans to the ground beef and rice filling. Drained and rinsed canned black beans or pinto beans are excellent choices.
• Fry diced onion along with the ground beef for extra flavor and moisture.
• Ground turkey or ground chicken can be swapped if you prefer. Keep in mind these are leaner and a little oil will be needed in the pan when frying.
• Frozen or canned sweet corn kernels are also a great way to add authentic Mexican flavor and texture to the meat mixture for stuffing the peppers.
• Use regular green peppers or Poblano peppers if you prefer. If using Poblanos they should be sliced lengthwise and stuffed like boats. This may result in a shorter baking time.

For more easy beefy Comfort Food Dinners check out my Baked Beans with Ground Beef, Mexican Lasagna with corn tortillas or Manwich Casserole. If you love spicy food and stuffed peppers be sure to try my Buffalo Chicken Stuffed Peppers too. They are low carb and delicious!

Mexican Stuffed Peppers Recipe

These cheesy Mexican Stuffed Peppers with ground beef and rice stuffing are easy to make and family friendly.

5 from 10 votes

Print Pin Rate

Course: Entree

Cuisine: Mexican, Tex-Mex

Prep Time: 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 50 minutes minutes

Servings: 6 -8

Calories:

Author: David Gagnon

Ingredients

• 1 pound hamburger ( used 80%)
• 1 box Spanish rice
• 10 oz diced tomatoes with chilis canned, hot or mild, your choice
• 8 oz. can tomato sauce
• 2 cups water
• 2 tbs butter or spread
• 6-8 large sweet peppers
• shredded cheddar cheese

Instructions

• Fry hamburger in large skillet over medium-high heat, while breaking into crumbles. Once the ground beef is fully cooked drain excess fat from the pan.
• Add rice, seasoning packet, tomatoes, sauce, water and butter. Stir, once it starts to bubble, reduce to low and cover. Simmer approximately 20 minutes, until liquid is absorbed.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
• Core and deseed the peppers, then stuff with the meat filling. Arrange in baking dish or oven safe pan, and add ¼-1/2 cup of water to bottom of pan to create a shallow water bath, Cover the dish with foil.
• Bake for 20 minutes. Peel back an edge of the foil and test doneness of pepper with fork. If fork goes through easily uncover top with cheese and bake 5 more minutes, if peppers are still too firm, bake covered for 10 more minutes, then uncover the peppers, top with shredded cheese. and bake 5 more minutes.
• Serve as is, or with hot sauce or tomato sauce.

Notes

Variations

• Add beans to the ground beef and rice filling. Canned drained black beans or pinto beans are excellent choices.
• Include diced onion for extra flavor and moisture. Add onion while frying the ground beef.
• Ground turkey or ground chicken can be swapped if you prefer. Keep in mind these are leaner and a little oil will be needed in the pan when frying.
• Frozen or canned sweet corn kernels are also a great way to add authentic Mexican flavor and texture to the meat mixture for stuffing the peppers.
• Use green bell peppers or Poblano peppers if you prefer. If using Poblanos they should be sliced lengthwise and stuffed like boats. This may result in a shorter baking time.